Penguins depart with a few enticing prospects for forward play.
Tanner Howe, the most fascinating guy brought in, will take the lead. Howe is an aggressive agitator with a quick wit. It is one thing when a player’s only quality is aggravating behavior. If the player is both extremely skilled and extremely obnoxious, it’s a whole other story. It appears to be a feasible and perfect scenario when the two are combined. According to many, the Penguins acquired him for a good price at pick 46.
Howe benefited from playing on a line with Connor Bedard in 2022–2023 season. Naturally, this will make people stop and consider how much of Howe’s success was due to Bedard. Howe concluded with 36 goals and 85 points in 67 games for one of the top junior teams.
The Regina Pats were among the poorest teams in their league and the worst in the WHL’s Eastern Conference when Bedard was in Chicago this season. Howe played in 68 games, scoring 77 points and 28 goals, without Bedard and a supporting group. Considering that he lost his megastar center, the season was overall quite strong.
This brings back memories of a similar circumstance I encountered years ago while attending Connor McDavid’s play in Erie. Of course, McDavid is the main draw, but I was also pleased by Alex DeBrincat, a player despite his diminutive stature. With McDavid (of course) scoring 104 points in 68 games, he thrived.
Without McDavid Brincat, DeBrincat scored 101 points in 60 games the next season. Even while DeBrincat’s raw stats are unquestionably superior to Howe’s, the key point is that Howe produced similarly the next season, playing with a #1 overall choice, just like DeBrincat did. It’s a positive indication.
Mac Swanson, a player they selected in the seventh round, is the other player that interests me. Swanson is a forward with good offensive stats who is small. When you are in the final round of the draft, he is precisely the kind of player you want to go full bore at.
There is no need to take chances when drafting at #207 overall. Don’t waste time on a large defenseman that will play with the South Carolina Sting Rays as a ceiling and has few points in his junior campaign. I’m a big fan of the idea of taking Swanson. A legitimate ceiling is achievable.
Even without a first-round selection, I felt the Penguins had a respectable draft day overall. The two most noteworthy picks for them, in my opinion, were Howe and Swanson. The transition to replenishing the prospect pool has started and will go on in the future.